A tribute to Patrick Swayze, a great role model for boys who want to be male dancers. He was the ultimate masculine male dancer.
OMG! Home 2 Weeks and No Time to Write!
A recap of our final week in New York City and the teachers Julian enjoyed most at Broadway Dance Center. Also, a quick look at what we’ve been doing during the two weeks since we returned to California.
Last Day in New York City
As I write, Julian is enjoying the last 30 minutes of his last class at Broadway Dance Center, an old-school hip hop class. He’s taken so many great classes the week, I can’t begin to even write about them — at least not right now. I’m too exhausted! I can’t imagine how he isn’t tired, […]
Week 5 of ABT Summer Intensive: Winding Down
OMG! We have less than a week and a half less until the American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive ends! Hard to believe…Julian is still having a blast, but I’m a bit homesick at this point, stressed about work and wishing we weren’t staying for an extra week. We are just doing way too much. At […]
ABT Summer Intensive Takes Its Toll on My Boy
Okay, well, I guess the New York Times article I read about the boy who went to the American Ballet Theatre summer intensive and suffered from shin splints and such painted a correct picture…or we’ve just hit some bad luck and made some bad choices. Julian is a week and a half into the ABT […]
Article on Trends in Training Male Dancers
The current issue of Dance Magazine (June 2009) has an interesting article written by Joseph Carman about new trends in training male dancers. You might want to pick up a copy and read it. It discusses all-male classes that offer technical skills for men that often get overlooked in co-ed classes–beats, turns, double tour en […]
Gearing Up For End-of-the-Year Concert
This is it! The end-of-the-year concert happens this weekend. Julian finished up Los Gatos Ballet’s Copellia last weekend only to start right in on technical rehearsals for Teen Dance Company’s 10th anniversary concert on Monday. Here it is Friday already, and he’s been at the Mexican Heritage Theatre in San Jose since 4 p.m. (it’s […]
Happy Mother's Day Dance Mom's!
This is just a short post to convey my best wishes to all those dance mom’s who read my blog. All of you do an enormous amount to help your sons become successful dancers – and successful people. A couple of years ago, my son gave me a cute shirt on Mother’s Day. It said, […]
Off to LA and DADA
It’s spring break here, and I’m taking both my kids down to Los Angeles. My daughter needs to tour a few colleges down there, and while she is checking out the costume design programs, Julian is going to check out their dance programs. We’ll visit the University of Southern California and then UCLA and California […]
Good Resource for Boys and Dance
One of my most avid readers and supporters has been dance teacher and fellow blogger Nichelle Strzepek of www.danceadvantage.net. I see so many people showing up at this blog from her post about boys, called “Let’s Here it For the Boys,” that I’d like to not only return the favor but turn your attention to the great […]
Strong Sense of Self Helps Boys Dance Well
Julian and I had a conversation yesterday about the post I had just written about developmental stages and how they affect dancers. (He was adamant that I should be writing about him, by the way…) I told him about the girls and boys I most watched at the convention and how I thought their dancing […]
Refocusing on the Real Purpose of This Blog
Thanks to the young man who set me straight today, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my blog today. I’ve been considering who reads it, the affect it has on readers and what I want to write about. In fact, I’ve been remembering the true focus on this blog and how I think I […]
Choreography Roles Cast on "Looks" Versus Ability… Well, Strength.
This has been an easy week, since Julian was still sick and stayed home from dance until time for choreography-again-on Friday and Saturday. Turns out the bronchitis was probably a virus, and it’s taking a long time for the cough to go away. He is still coughing up a storm and two days of choreography […]